VoiceOver Gestures for use with a Multi-Touch Trackpad on MacOS

If you're using a Multi-Touch trackpad, you can use VoiceOver gestures. VoiceOver provides a set of standard gestures for navigating and interacting with items on the screen. You can't modify this set of gestures. NOTE: Gestures that don't mention a specific number of fingers are single-finger gestures.

General

Enable the Trackpad Commander and VoiceOver gestures: VO-Two-finger rotate clockwise

Disable the Trackpad Commander and VoiceOver gestures: VO-Two-finger rotate counterclockwise

Turn the screen curtain on or off: Three-finger triple-tap

Mute or unmute VoiceOver: Three-finger double-tap

Navigation

Force the VoiceOver cursor into a horizontal or vertical line when you drag a finger across the trackpad: Hold down the Shift key and drag a finger horizontally or vertically

Move the VoiceOver cursor to the next item: Flick right

Move the VoiceOver cursor to the previous item: Flick left

Move content or the scroll bar (depending on the Trackpad Commander setting): Three-finger flick in any direction

Go to the Dock (this gesture moves the VoiceOver cursor to the Dock wherever it's positioned on the screen): Two-finger double-tap near the bottom of the trackpad

Go to the menu bar: Two-finger double-tap near the top of the trackpad

Open the Application Chooser: Two-finger double-tap on the left side of the trackpad

Open the Window Chooser: Two-finger double-tap on the right side of the trackpad

Jump to another area of the current application: Press Control while touching a finger on the trackpad

Interaction

Speak the item in the VoiceOver cursor, or if there isn't an item, play a sound effect to indicate a blank area: Touch (includes tap or dragging)

Select an item: Double-tap anywhere on the trackpad You can also split-tap (touch one finger and then tap with a second finger on the trackpad)

Start interacting with the item in the VoiceOver cursor: Two-finger flick right

Stop interacting with the item in the VoiceOver cursor: Two-finger flick left

Scroll one page up or down: Three-finger flick up or down

Escape (close a menu without making a selection): Two-finger scrub back and forth

Increase or decrease the value of a slider, splitter, stepper, or other control: Flick up (increase) or flick down (decrease)

Text

Read the current page, starting at the top: Two-finger flick up

Read from the VoiceOver cursor to the end of the current page: Two-finger flick down

Pause or resume speaking: Two-finger tap

Describe what's in the VoiceOver cursor: Three-finger tap

Change how VoiceOver reads text (by word, line, sentence, or paragraph): Press the Command key while touching a finger on the trackpad

Rotor

Change the rotor settings: Two-finger rotate

Move to the previous item based on the rotor setting: Flick up

Move to the next item based on the rotor setting: Flick down

More

To customize other gestures by assigning VoiceOver commands to them, use the Trackpad Commander. If you need a reminder about what a gesture does, press VO-K to start keyboard help, and then use the gesture on the trackpad and listen to the description.